I have hunted in the SF bay my entire life. The shooting in pretty good if you get in the right spot. These days I hunt in the N. Grasslands mostly, it is a LOT easier : )

The types of ducks vary, you will get a few "regular ducks" every year (mallard, sprig, teal... that sort of thing), but mostly you will get "bay ducks" (ruddys, blueys, bufflehead and a few canvasbacks).

My friends and I shoot a lot of limits, so the shooting can be great although the ducks can be a little fishy tasting.

As far as where to go... There used to be really two options, one was to lease a salt pond from Cargill, build a blind and hunt there. The other is to hunt on the outside of a pond or in one of the many, many sloughs. Cargill has transferred all of the salt ponds to the federal government now so the rules are a little different but you can still hunt in most of them. You will need to look at the DFG page to get info on how to reserve a spot.

In all cases you will need a boat and most likely a dog. I have always used a 17 foot boat with a 35hp or 40hp motor. The bay can get big, bring enough boat.

Send me a note and I will send you my phone number. I can tell you where the good hunting is, where to put a boat in, even a couple of places you can walk to.

Nahhh -- I know that's not right, as I shot a decent number this season.

I was particularly interested in seeing whether folks had shot sea ducks (e.g. scoters) on the Bay itself, as opposed to shooting ducks in the sloughs. I know that you can still find decent-sized groups of such ducks on the Puget Sound. Has anyone had experience in hunting these ducks on SF Bay?